Planning A Magical Christmas Lights Display

When Christmastime comes around, there's a sense of magic and excitement and the area. Many people want to embrace that sense of joy and wonder by celebrating the season with a gorgeous display of lights and decorations on their homes! If you're never attempted a major decoration project for the holiday season before, you might be a little overwhelmed by the prospect. However, take it one step at a time and carefully plan out your vision, and pretty soon, you'll have a dazzling holiday display the whole family can enjoy!

When In Doubt, Sketch It Out

Planning a big Christmas lighting installation is a big project to keep track of in your head. That's why we recommend people create a visual guide to reference by sketching out their displays!

Step way out in front of your house, so you get a good wide view of it. Then, sketch it out, making sure to include relevant landscaping like trees and shrubs. You don't need to be Norman Rockwell to do this- just make sure you mark the basic outline and major shapes so you can overlay your display onto it.

Once you've got a decent sketch, start planning out where you want things to go. Want to keep it simple? Focus on decorating the trees and bushes, and maybe your porch as well. If you want to be more extravagant, though, plan your lighting display around areas where it'll have the most visual impact.

Keep Your Budget And Power Usage In Mind

Energy bills skyrocket during the holiday season, and one big reason why is because of extravagant Christmas light displays using tons of electricity. In addition to the budget consideration, you want to make sure your planned display doesn't overwhelm your home's circuits- you don't want a Clark Griswold moment when plugging in your lights for the first time!

There are more in-depth guides online that can help you estimate the needed power consumption for your planned display. We recommend you consult these guides, match them with your budget and your home's energy output capacity, and make changes to your display as needed before gathering supplies.

Gather Supplies, Stay Organized

When you've got your plan ready, it's time to collect all the materials you'll need. Don't forget that in addition to your lights, you'll need additional supplies like zip ties and extension cables. Stay organized: keep the supplies grouped based on what areas you're going to be setting them up around.

Stay Sparkly, Stay Safe: Use LEDs

We recommend sticking to LEDs for your Christmas display. They produce the same dazzling results as incandescents while consuming way less energy, putting less stress on your fusebox, and keeping your energy bills within reasonable limits. Plus, they're more eco-friendly, and they don't produce heat- a common risk with incandescent lighting.

Test Your Lights Beforehand

Before you start putting them up, plug each string in beforehand and check for dead bulbs. Replace any you see before putting them up, as burned-out bulbs still pull power away from the rest of the lights.

Make Sure You're Using Outdoor Lights

When choosing Christmas lights, make sure your lights are designed for outdoor use. Indoor lights aren't designed for use outside and pose an electrocution hazard if exposed to moisture.

Conclusion: Setting It All Up

Once you've got everything set and ready to go, you're good to start decorating! The general recommendation is to work from the ground up, using a steady ladder and a couple of helpers to carefully reach high areas. However, we personally recommend homeowners choose a safer alternative when installing high-up displays. Even when working cautiously, accidents happen, and falls during Christmas lighting installation account for thousands of ER trips every holiday season. With any decoration or maintenance job that requires you to climb near the top of your home, we always recommend contracting expert help.

If you need help decorating your Missouri City home this holiday season, choose Good Guy Pressure Washing For our Christmas lighting installation service. Despite being primarily a pressure washing company, we offer Christmas lighting installation as well. The same protocols and safety equipment we use when performing high-up pressure washing jobs like roof washing or gutter cleaning come in handy when we're asked to install Christmas lights up on your housetop. We'll put those lights up according to your specifications and take them down for you when the season has ended. If you'd like help setting up your Christmas decorations this year, give us a call at 512-961-0627.